


Clear Day--The Purple Lion

by pajamabees



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, adam said gay rights and the showrunners killed him for it, i hated everything about season 8 so, if i were to rewrite it i would add adam and this is what would have happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 02:53:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17035174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pajamabees/pseuds/pajamabees
Summary: An alternate version of season 8's episode 'Clear Day' where Adam is alive and Allura isn't cooped up in the Atlas while the others have fun. Plus, Shiro is lovesick, and Adam is killing him.





	Clear Day--The Purple Lion

“ _That’s_ Drazan?”

“Yes. Now can you _please_ get out of the way?”

Adam ignored Keith’s request and instead did the complete opposite, pressing his body closer in the tight space to get a better view of the blue and gray planet. Keith was forced to shift in his seat to make room for Adam’s curiosity, and he did so with an annoyed scowl.

“Seriously Adam, move!” he said, and again the man refused to listen.

“You’re too young to fly anyway,” Adam provoked, his eyes still transfixed on Drazan, “Aren’t you like, 17?”

“I’m 21!”

“Sure.”

Keith growled, as was his nature to do so, and his reddening face snapped back towards Shiro. His irritation only grew when he noticed the Atlas captain was ignoring the entire argument in favor of staring at Adam, a hint of smile on his face. Disgusting.

“Shiro!”

“Huh?” Shiro jolted at the sudden bark of his name, and he switched his gaze to Keith’s in confusion. “What?”

Keith gave him a deadpanned look and pointed to Adam, who was now practically leaning over the console. “Tell him to move.”

“He’s not in charge of me,” Adam called back, a little peeved that Keith would even insinuate such a thing. He was _Adam_ for heaven’s sake—if he wanted to look at a planet he’s never seen before then he will. No one could stop him from doing anything.

Shiro seemed to agree with his unspoken thoughts, because he hesitated to say anything before giving Keith a sheepish smile.

“Is it really a problem, Keith? Black knows where we’re going,” Shiro pointed out, and oh, Keith could not believe this.

“What if we’re attacked? He’ll be in the way!” He gestured frantically to Adam, who then decided to finally peel his eyes from the nearing planet.

“Then I’ll just be not in the way.” Adam’s words were laced with just as much sarcasm as the look he sent towards Keith. “Some of us have never seen other planets before, so can you stop being selfish and chill out?”

“I’m not being selfish for asking you to get out of my space.”

“Shut up, child.”

“Don’t tell me to shut up! And I’m not a child!”

“My mistake—be quiet, you big baby.”

The argument continued, the two bantering back and forth. Keith was successfully riled up, his face contorting into bewilderment and anger all at once, while Adam just smirked and met every retort with his own in a calm voice, much to Keith’s growing frustration.

And Shiro remained in the back, a silent spectator. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, but mostly because their bickering grew louder by the second. Well, Keith grew louder, and it hurt his ears a bit, but other than that, he couldn’t help but smile a little.

This was familiar, this constant clash of stubborn personalities. It reminded Shiro of the past, when Keith was actually a kid and argued with Adam in that squeaky voice all children eventually grew out of. Unlike Shiro, Adam didn’t see a problem with fighting a 12-year-old, and he was relentless in his witty remarks, just as he was at this very moment. Keith was older now, much older, and could hold his ground a little longer, thus the argument lasted until they landed in Drazan.

“Stop it, both of you,” Shiro ordered as their group of three met with the others. He received two furious glares in return, but the banter did stop, much to his appreciation.

Shiro still stood between the two men though just in case—Adam standing casually on Shiro’s left and Keith pouting with crossed arms on his right—as he explained everyone’s ‘orders’, which were basically to be on guard, but also have fun. While Shiro really was concerned about the frequent hostile activity on Drazan, he also saw an opportunity for the paladins and everyone on the Atlas to have a break. He figured the Clear Day carnival was perfect, and he was even excited himself. But it seemed that not everyone agreed. Well, it was just Keith who didn’t agree.

As everyone pretended like they weren’t about to wander off and do whatever, Coran and Adam the last ones to go, Shiro eyed Keith’s tense form.

“Keith, relax,” he said with a soft smile, “Go have fun.”

His smile dropped when Keith turned, a serious look on his face. “If we’re not here for protection, then what are we even doing here?”

Shiro wanted to correct him—they were here for protection—but he knew Keith would never relax if he said that, so he just shrugged and smiled again instead. “Morale on the Atlas is low after what happened on Orion. Who knows? A few hours at the carnival might give us the boost we need to get back on track. So relax for a bit; we’ll be prepared if anything happens.”

Keith didn’t look very convinced, but he nodded anyway. “Fine,” he grumbled, and walked off in the direction of the others, leaving Shiro alone.

After watching him leave, Shiro wandered off himself, deciding to take the time to breathe now that he was on his own.

****

Adam stared at the significantly smaller rings that the alien behind the carnival stand practically thrusted into Lance’s hands. He turned his head to give Allura an obvious look, one that she mirrored. The game was a scam, that much was certain, and when he switched his gaze back to Lance, it seemed he knew as well. Except he wasn’t saying anything.

Interesting. Adam would have given the guy a few choice words; in fact, he was about to, but he figured maybe Lance was keeping his mouth shut for a reason. After all, the rings were much smaller, and Lance was all about competition. He probably saw this as a challenge, or an opportunity to impress. Adam had to give him props for that.

“You can do it Lance!” Allura said, pumping her fists in support. She knew just as much as Adam that Lance was being scammed, but she was also excited to see if he could pull it off. Adam was too, and he gave Lance an encouraging pat on the back.

Lance gave both of them a cocky smile before he held up one ring in concentration. He stared for a few seconds as he aimed, then, to Adam’s horror, threw all three rings consecutively. And missed each time in a span of a second.

“Oh! So close!” The alien said, even though Lance was not close. Not by a long shot.

“Why’d you throw them all so fast?” Adam stared unbelievably at Lance, hands on his hips.

“I don’t know!” Lance held up his hands at the patronizing look he received. “I usually have to be quick in battle, so I guess I just thought….”

“This isn’t a battlefield! This is a carnival game!” Adam then whipped his head around, the alien taking a step back at his sharp gaze. “I want to play.”

The man nodded with a sly smirk and held out his four-fingered hand. “Ten tokens!”

Adam glared. “Five.”

“Nine.”

“Two.”

“Six.”

“One, and I won’t stand here and tell everyone who tries to play that the game is rigged.”

“Deal!”

Just like with Lance, Adam was given three very small rings, but it wasn’t a problem. After all, he wouldn’t be able to teach Lance a lesson if he didn’t endure the same circumstances.

“If I land all three, do I win three prizes?” he asked, inspecting the weight of the rings in one hand.

The alien answered “Yes!”

Adam nodded, then he leaned on the stand with one elbow, holding one ring up to his face. Through his glasses, he measured the distance of the closest pole, eyes locked and coordination set. He made sure to make a show of taking his time for Lance to catch onto before he threw the ring. It landed true.

“Woo!” Both Lance and Allura hollered behind him, and he picked up the next ring.

That too landed with no problem, swirling around the small pole successfully. The alien looked at it in worry.

“Only one more!” Adam heard Allura shout behind him, and once more he bent over the stand, focusing on the same wooden pole the last two rings hung from. He knew he would land it, unless the alien dude had some trick up his sleeve. He sent him another glare just for good measure, and he held all eight fingers up and stepped fearfully out of Adam’s view. Good.

Adding a few more seconds just for the suspense, Adam tossed the ring and watched as it reunited with its kin. Lance and Allura broke out into victorious cheers while Adam smirked at the alien, who slumped his shoulders in defeat.

“Three prizes,” Adam reminded him, and was lazily waved off.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, and reached behind the stand and brought a box of different colored lions, “Go ahead and choose.”

Before Adam could even lift an arm to grab one of the plushies, suddenly both of them were locked in hugs. Lance and Allura clung to each of his arms and stared up at him, both sporting very powerful puppy dog eyes.

“You’ll get the blue one, won’t you Adam?” Allura begged, one lip jutted out in a very persuasive pout. Adam couldn’t even get a word out before his other arm was tugged, and he turned to look at Lance.

“Get the red one! Please! Please, please, please!”

“Please get the blue lion, it will mean so much to me.”

“Red deserves to have her own plushy for the dashboard.”

“Please, Adam?”

“Pretty please!”

“Okay!” Adam snapped, dizzy from switching back and forth between the two. He tugged his arms free a little aggressively, not too keen on being restrained so suddenly. He then gestured to the pile of lions. “The blue and red one.”

By the time the two plushies were pulled from the box, Adam was once again smothered in a giant group hug he never agreed to, both Lance and Allura saying their thanks all at once.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Adam mumbled, but his face flushed a light pink. It had been a while since he’d been hugged, and it felt like he was being squished between two children. In a way, he viewed all five of the paladins like his own kids—except Keith, who was like an adopted half-demon child that wouldn’t go away—and he enjoyed hanging out with them. But they didn’t have to know that. “Now get off of me, I still have one more prize.”

Both pair of arms let go immediately, and he was a little sad about it, but he shook those thoughts away and stared at the assortment of lion plushies. There were only a few yellows one left, some green ones here and there, and the rest a random number of red, blue, and black.

He couldn’t get yellow or green, because either Hunk or Pidge would feel left out, but he didn’t want to get a black lion either. He couldn’t let Keith see him walking around with a black lion plushy, and he supposed maybe he could get away by saying it was for Shiro. But would that make Shiro feel awkward, since he wasn’t a paladin anymore? Would he be sad? Adam’s decision would be a lot easier if he had the option of choosing the Atlas. Why couldn’t the carnival update their prizes faster?

Adam scratched his head. He supposed he could get another blue one—he had a feeling that Blue liked him—but then he’d have to deal with possibly hurting Lance’s feelings. Maybe a red one? No, because then Allura might—

A light bulb suddenly went off in his head, and he looked up at the alien. “Do you still have any purple ones left?”

*****

Shiro didn’t think he’d ever enter a competition again, especially after the first one. Yet here he was, competing with all sorts of aliens, but this time it was far less brutal, and he wasn’t fearing for his life. Sure, there were some aliens that made a chill crawl up his spine, but that was really it. He was having fun, and that was all that mattered. Winning every match within seconds and crushing the hopes and dreams of his opponent was also kind of fun, but he’d never say that out loud.

He didn’t think he’d actually win the championship, though, especially since he was overwhelmed by the Warden’s strength in the first couple of seconds, but he supposed his teammates deserved credit for his win. Adam specifically.

Shiro could hear the paladins cheering him on amongst the crowd, Pidge shouting her support and Hunk screaming for Shiro to rip the Warden’s arm off. But it was Adam he could hear clearly, and he couldn’t help but sneak a peak in the direction of his voice.

“KILL HIM! KILL HIM!” was Adam’s exuberant shriek. His face was scrunched up in anger, a terrifying snarl occupying his usually neutral face. He was standing on the bench, high above the others, with his clenched fists in the air. A few members of the crowd stared at him with wiry looks, some with fear, and all five of the paladins were trying to get him to sit down. But Adam was relentless in his fury, clearly displaying the wrecking ball personality not many witnessed and lived to tell.

“FUCK HIM UP, TAKASHI!” he yelled, ignoring Keith’s protests and Allura’s attempts to pull on his sleeve.

The scene was almost too distracting, and he reluctantly tore his gaze away, new adrenaline coursing through his veins as Adam continued screaming his support to the world. His heart pumped faster, and there was an ache in his shoulder from the force that was keeping his metal arm from moving in the direction it wanted. The pressure was almost too much, but he inwardly reached towards whatever science and magic that was used to keep his arm functioning, and grabbed it, willing it to give him strength. It was hard without an elbow, but he stepped back into a comfortable position and used all his might to swing his opponent’s arm and slam it to the table.

The crowd erupted in cheers, so loud it was deafening. The announcer didn’t even get a chance to raise his arm in victory before a body collided into his own. He was almost knocked over from the force of it, immediately recognizing the familiar tightness of Adam’s hug when suddenly he was engulfed in more hugs from his entire team.

It was a little blurry after that, the overexertion he put his body through making him feel a little dizzy and tired, but he remembered all the hugs and cheers, and the Warden buckling the championship around his human arm. It was the most excited and happy he had felt in a long time, and he couldn’t help the slight swagger in his gait as the group walked back to the lions.

The paladins were a few steps ahead of them, Lance, Allura, and Pidge showing off their prizes while Hunk and Keith explained the creepy ride they were forced to go on. Coran was barely listening to Slav explain how there was a .04% chance that he could die from Coran’s trophy.

Adam was silently walking beside Shiro, their steps in sync. There was still some tension between them, things that have yet to be talked about or sorted through, and there was an obvious rift that needed to be mended. Even though it had been years since their break up, they still sometimes fell into the same routine from when they were together. Shiro welcomed it, because he still had strong feelings for the hot-headed man, but Adam pulled back once things became too comfortable. It saddened Shiro, because all he wanted to do when he came back to Earth was hug and kiss the man he had wronged, but he wasn’t about to force it. To Adam, their time apart was much longer thanks to the time lapse, and Shiro understood that things just weren’t quite the same. Plus, it had been so difficult to woo Adam the first time—he was a fool if he thought he could do it again so easily.

Still, he appreciated the time they spent together. Being friends with Adam was pretty rewarding in and of itself.

“So?” Shiro broke the silence, nudging Adam with his metal arm. Or his alien arm, as Adam once called it.

Adam looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “So?” he said right back.

With a small smile, Shiro nudged him again. “What did you do at the carnival?”

“Oh. I just played a few carnival games with Lance and Allura.”

“Ah.”

Shiro found it a little endearing that Adam spent so much time with those two. He didn’t really believe in coincidences anymore, and he had a feeling that there was a reason why Adam had a tighter connection to the paladins who could fly the blue lion. The blue lion itself seemed to grow fond of Adam as well; it wasn’t really shown, but Shiro could feel it. He was sure Lance and Allura could, too.

“Hey.”

Shiro’s thoughts were interrupted by Adam’s voice, and he turned his attention to him. “Hm?”

“Uhm,” Adam fidgeted with his fingers for a few seconds before he reached into one of the packs strapped to his belt. “I kinda got you something.”

Shiro’s eyes widened. His heart may have also skipped a beat. “Oh?”

“Yeah.” Adam scratched his head, refusing to make eye contact. “Well, I won it—I won three, actually, but Lance and Allura practically begged me for the other two and almost ripped my arms off. I was gonna keep it because I liked the color, but I thought of you and—I hope this isn’t weird. I know you’re a grown man but I thought it was cute and I thought maybe a black one would be too insensitive and I couldn’t choose the other colors because I’m trying not to play favorites here, ya know? I mean I’m sure everyone knows Keith is not my favorite but still, I wasn’t sure—”

“Adam.”

“Right. Sorry.” Their gazes finally met and Adam smiled sheepishly, with absolutely no idea the effect it had on Shiro’s entire soul. Or maybe he did and was just trying to torture Shiro. That kind of sounded like something Adam would do. “Here.”

Their eye contact broke as Shiro looked down at Adam’s hand. In his palm was a small, soft plushy with robot-like designs. Shiro actually wasn’t very sure what it was; it kind of looked like a purple dog.

“It’s a purple lion,” Adam clarified, probably noticing Shiro’s confused look.

Shiro’s eyebrows skyrocketed. Oh. _Oh_.

“Oh,” he breathed, and he could feel sickness forming in his stomach and chest. Love sickness. “Adam….”

“I—Do you not like it? I know it’s not very cool, I just—”

“No, no, no.” Shiro grabbed the hand that was holding the small lion, his skin sparking from the contact. “I love it. Really, I do—it’s adorable. Thank you.”

A blush was creeping onto Adam’s face, and he hastily turned his head. “No problem,” he mumbled.

Shiro had to stop himself from softly grabbing Adam’s chin and turning his head back around, if only to keep contact with the brown eyes he had fallen so hard for. “I do wish I had gotten you something, though,” he said instead.

Adam just shrugged and pushed the plushy into Shiro’s hand before pulling his own away. He then sped up his pace to get a few feet ahead, and Shiro’s heart sunk as he realized maybe Adam was upset that he didn’t get him anything. But then Adam suddenly stopped walking and turned his head towards him.

Their eyes met for a few brief seconds before Adam said, clear as Clear Day: “Being here with you is a gift.”

He walked off immediately afterwards, leaving Shiro alone and stunned. He stood there for a solid ten seconds, trying to quell his jumbled thoughts and ease his racing heart, which seemed to be giving him a lot of trouble today. All he could think about was Adam, Adam, Adam, and the cute lion he now held in his hand. A purple lion.

And the worst part was knowing he’d have to stand in the cramped cockpit of the black lion, with Keith at the helm, and Adam by his side. He could already imagine the tension. It would take every fiber of his entire being to force himself not to at least touch Adam. It was horrible, excruciating, and painful, yet there was warmth his chest and butterflies in stomach.

Adam.... He will be the death of Shiro, one day. 


End file.
